Lately I’ve noticed an uptick in the comments sections of our story posts on the Main Street Journal Facebook page complaining about having to pay for our content. To go one step further, there have been multiple comments from people asking those who are kind enough to subscribe to the Journal to screen-cap the stories and post so everyone can read for free. 

One thing this tells me is we are offering a needed service - one that many people deem valuable enough to pay us for. For that, Rob, Jeff, Sam and I are very grateful. In fact, I’ve recently seen evidence suggesting our subscription base has now surpassed that of a much more well-established news source, a remarkable feat to accomplish in only six months. We are humbled by your support and strive every day to be worthy of it. 

The other thing it tells me is we have become a leading source of local news that is providing stories that can’t be found elsewhere. After all, if the people could find the stories we are offering somewhere else, and find them for free, they wouldn’t need to ask our subscribers to share with them.

Now I’m not trying to bash these people (and even if I was, they wouldn’t see it because this column is also behind a paywall), but the entitlement they express in their comments is somewhat surprising. Some have mentioned how unfair it is or how much they hate it that they have to subscribe to read all of our stories. 

I don’t go into Taco Bell and get upset when they expect payment for a Mexican Pizza. It costs money to run a restaurant just as it costs money to run a local news organization. There are expenses, not the least of which are salaries for reporters. I love what I do and I value my role in keeping the community informed, but I don’t get enough joy from it to do it for free. If it weren’t for Chad Graves and Scot MacDonald paying me for my services, I wouldn’t be writing local news and business stories on my own Facebook page for nothing. For us at the Journal, this is a profession, not a hobby. I have bills to pay and unfortunately Ben Lomand Connect won’t accept payment in Facebook likes. 

And it's not like our prices are outrageous. A one-month subscription is $7, cheaper than the cost of one cheeseburger at a lot of places. And if you commit to a year, you only pay the equivalent of 11 months - $77.

There was an outpouring of support in March for local journalism when the future of reporting in Warren County was gravely threatened. It was that support which enabled the Journal to be created, and which gave me a landing spot. I am so thankful to everyone who recognized the importance of local reporting during that time and who spoke with their pocketbooks to make this a viable endeavor. I even have one friend who lives in Nashville and knows me only as a seat neighbor at Nashville Predators games who bought a one-year subscription just to support me and local journalism. (Thanks, Al!) We also greatly appreciate all the businesses who have chosen the Journal as the place to advertise and spread the word about their services.

Sure, we’d love to be able to give everyone all the information they want for free, and we do share some stories and Facebook posts for free. But in the end, as I said, reporters need to be paid and owners need to make money to be able to pay them. The past seven months have shown us the importance of local reporting. It is not a given that it will always be available. Without financial support, it won’t continue. 

I realize I’m preaching to the choir here as, if you’re reading this, you are one of our very valued subscribers and we truly appreciate you. But for those who question why we require subscriptions, this is as good of an explanation as I know how to give. 

Thanks for reading. Because of your support, local journalism is alive and well in Warren County. 

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